Rustnstuff: 04/18

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Finishing

I got some time both yesterday and today to put the finishing touches to four lamps in all: I finished grinding and polishing the last two from Friday so I was able to assemble them and add cords and light fittings; I put a new cord on the lamp with the pulley wheels as the rocker switch on the first cord was faulty; and I finished the assembling a fourth lamp and added the cord and light fittings.

Few photos of three of the lamps.

I also did a bit of clean up of the work surfaces in the garage-studio and discovered parts for another two lamps that I think will come together during the week.

All in all a good weekends work.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Some Artisan Lamps call for a bit of engineering

I had hoped to finish three Artisan Lamps (see photo below) today; but that was not to be as there were other more important priorities to attend to.

The lamp at the beginning of the post required a little more work than can be the case. I needed to be able to get the bigger iron wheel sitting flush on the base plate of the lamp for two reasons: so that the wheel could still turn and so the corded could be threaded up around it from the underside of the base. This required drilling and filing to create the rectangle in the aluminium plate. The sequence of the photos below show how it worked.

I wanted to create an industrial feel with this lamp including the 'riveted' aluminium back and the various cogs and wheels. I think it has worked out well.

I'm hoping to get the other two lamps finished over the weekend.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Pausing for peace, gentle light and capturing bird activity

Bit of a mixed bag in my Wednesday iPhoneography today. It is Anzac Day in Australia. Always a mixed day for me - Fiona and I attend the dawn remembrance service which in our town starts at 4.28am. By attending I honour the suffering, sacrifice and human loss of all war and peace keeping missions. But I also use it a yet another way to remind myself to pause and imagine peace. The remembrance service today achieved that balance.

A couple more photos on the peace theme.

And by way of magic - today I was out the back painting a wall and was working about 8m from the fire pit that now an avian font. I was amazed at the number of birds that came in for a bath and totally ignored my presence. I managed somehow to get a sequence of a bird using the avian font: on the rim, in the water and taking off. Never happy with the zoom on the iPhone.

The rust in the fire pit font looked glorious with the sun on it.

We are definitely heading into autumn-winter now. The morning sunrises, when the sky is not overcast, are soft pastels over the valley filled with cloud.

And the sun is now at such an angle that the sunlight is creating unusual light and rainbows through the water in the glass kettle at breakfast time.

Celebrating nature, light and imagining peace.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Assembling and wiring

I got a good run over the weekend to work on the Artisan Lamps. Saturday afternoon I managed to do some more development work on three lamps; and today I managed to grind and polish three lamps- yes it was fine; and this afternoon I started wiring a bunch of the lamps.

First some of the groups of polished bits ready for assembly; and assembly in progress.

And the finished products so far.

Hopefully during the week I will finish the other three lamps on the workbench and be in a position to do a delivery run to Entangle in Dayboro.

Friday, April 20, 2018

On the work bench

I have managed a bit of time in the garage-studio progressing a few more of the planned Artisan Lamps. Before heading over to the grinding-polishing bench I usually try a mockup of the lamps. This can include using a bit of bluetac to hold pieces together. It gives me the opportunity to see if the pieces are fitting together and/or are complementary.

I find it amusing that though the core elements of planned lamps can remain the same there is always the chance-need to add other bits and pieces into the mix. For example with the lamp above the wheel and the centre section were in the original design; but I have added the tap and brass bits on top in place of the heavy steel rods you can see in the bottom righthand corner of the photo.

Following are some of the other mockups on the workbench today.

©2018 Barry Smith - I love the organic sinuousness of this mockup - not sure if I will stick with the small bakelite light fitting or add a larger one - that decision can be made at the point of assembly.

©2018 Barry Smith - I could not find a suitable frame for the cogs and wheels - in the end I've gone with an industrial look using a polished aluminium sample I had made for a job a couple of years ago - it is definitely a work in progress.

Obviously there is quite a bit of grinding and polishing before the lamps are ready for assembling. Hopefully the weather will fine up enough over the weekend for me to get to the outside grinding area. But enough for today - a red wine beckons.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Rainbows bring colour to a rainy day

On Monday the house was full of rainbows. As Fiona said as the sun tracks north in autumn and winter the morning sun through the edges of our glass louvres sends rainbows onto many surfaces.